Posts made by Miriam

@AnneBrierley
Hello!
It took me a bit to figure everything out, too. I made a suggestion to SVS of making a Welcome or Orientation page to include details like how to use the forums (among other things) & they said they are working on it--they just have a lot of things they are doing--esp. with the live classes. They did add a Curriculum page, so you might want to check that out:https://www.svslearn.com/curriculum/

A few more notes on up-votes:
If you hover your mouse over the number, you can see the names of people who have "voted" (or some of the names if there are several).

If you click on the number, you'll see a whole list, but by their icon instead of their name, and if you put your mouse over the icon, you can see the name, or click to go to their profile page.

On your profile page, you will see some stats at the top, including "reputation". I believe that this number is the sum of your up-votes and down-votes (but I don't think anyone uses the down-vote button here--everyone is supportive and friendly! If they dislike or disagree with something, they either ignore the post, or make their own comment to share their opinion). I suppose the "reputation" is to help determine the reliability of a commenter (and therefore their comments).

@kathrynadebayo
Yes, I'm missing the warm glow on the last one. I hope you get a chance to take another photo.

I am not very experienced, but as far as I know, watercolors don't scan well. I saw a post where someone else asked a similar question, and Lee White said that he takes photographs. To make a high quality image, he takes more than one photo, then merges them digitally.

@chip-valecek
re: "I was trying to be silly with that bottom line."
Ok, it works if it's supposed to be a joke! (Maybe add an exclamation point? ...unless it's supposed to be more dead-pan.)

It does work to leave the stamp area. I don't think most people would see it as a problem. (I was just mentioning it as something to think about. Also, I've seen mail where the Post Office put the cancellation stamp in the wrong place, so there's that, too!)

I was thinking the bird's head was in profile & about eye level, so you can see straight through the beak. That's a good point about seeing down onto the tongue or up into the palate. I will have to keep that in mind in the future.

Oh, I'm glad you thought the colors worked. I did want the rabbit to be bold and stand out. I just wasn't sure if I went too far with the contrast. The 80/20 concept makes sense.

I tried to add shadow before I added the tones. Maybe it's not enough? I wanted the light to come from the left side in a downward direction, but from a little lower angle for a soft morning light. I want to keep the image light--like a bright spring morning.

@chip-valecek
I really like the postcard with the photos layout. This was a great solution!

The phrase at the bottom, "Nothing can stop you but the ground." could use a little work. It makes it sound like you are going to hit the ground hard (to me!). And feels almost like a contradiction to the phase at the top "Be free & fearless".

I'd also prefer the 1st phrase to be a formatted differently. Maybe it's supposed to be more free-form, but it's looking a bit messy compared to the rest of the postcard.

On picture postcards, the stamp goes on the opposite side of the postcard (with the addresses and message), and it doesn't get the wavy lines until it's cancelled at the Post Office (in which case, it should have a stamp affixed). But I guess these can be forgiven, since otherwise it wouldn't be clear that it's a postcard, unless you add another postcard peaking out behind this one and have it facing the other way, showing the back. But then it would get confusing because it would be hard to show the difference of the photos being part of this postcard, but the two postcards being separate.

Overall, it looks really good! It would be cool for a skydiving company to offer this design, where you can insert your own photos.

There's just one thing that is a little confusing--the music stand in front of the doorway. It took me a minute to figure out what is was and where it is located. It could almost be some rugs hanging on the railing outside, and it's hard to tell how far away from the viewer it is (making it harder to tell what the object is). It is easier to see when I clicked on the image to see it larger in a new tab, but it's still kind of floating over there, since you can't see the stand portion holding it up (and there's already the instrument next to it, where you don't really see what is supporting it).

One more thing--the two main characters could be a little sharper / clearer. If this were a photo, it looks like a selective-focus image with the springer spaniel & the U-shaped tool on the plane with the sharpest focus, and everything else slightly out of focus. So if you want to work on this some more, I would suggest making those two characters crisper and more defined. I think having more detail in the rest of the characters would also help with the contrast between the whites and the other colors. The whites are drawing more attention, but sharper, more defined details would also draw the eye & help balance it out.

Both of those comments are down to the nit-picky / refining level. Comparing this one to the previous versions, it's very clear and uncluttered. It has a definite focus in the composition, while still being full of interesting objects.

Yes, I love watching critiques, and was excited when Will said he'd be doing some on Facebook in February. I have learned a lot from watching critiques of other people's work. There's even an example in this drawing. I remember one where Will gave advice about showing the interior of the mouth (instead of seeing straight through), so I made sure to do that with this rabbit. I hope the bird's beak is ok without it. In the first drawing, it's closed, but I think the revised beak in the second drawing is ok. What do you think?

I agree. There is so much information in the videos that watching them multiple times is still interesting and you are right that it helps you really learn what they are teaching. This is my second time watching the 10 Step Digital Painting Class, and I'm noticing the difference of applying each step as I watch this time around.

Oh, if you'd like to get an idea of how the watercolor turned out, I recreated it digitally and moved things around to create a banner on my profile page: http://forum.svslearn.com/user/miriam

This was before I started watching the 10 Step Digital Painting class, and you can see that I don't have any shadow or use of tones. I wanted the rabbit to really pop, and I wanted to use a red similar to the SVS logo, but I think I should have made the colors more cohesive.

I'm trying to follow Lee's advice of really studying a class and getting in more practice rather than binge-watching videos. It's hard to find a good balance when I have so much to learn! I'd really like to be able to create finished pieces, so I need to figure out how to paint / color. Maybe I should go ahead and watch those videos to get an overview, then go back to study them in depth later.

For my submission, I printed it out & tried hand-painting it with water color. It turned out ok, but I have a lot to learn, so I want to give it another try, and I thought I'd try digital painting this time. I also changed the bird's beak to give it a more engaging expression.

I don’t know anything about shadows, tones, or color, so I am working on learning more by watching Will Terry's 10 Step Digital Painting class. I've been working on painting the drawing along with each video segment I watch. Here is my progress so far (which is 1/2 way through the steps):

I want to do a couple versions--one with a red rabbit and another one with a natural color--like brown. I'm not sure if I should do two whole separate color schemes--but I think I'll just change the rabbit and leave everything else the same for the two versions.

Why does she have a poster of an upside-down umbrella?! Also, the lamp looks a little odd, since it would shine a spot of light down on the floor. Unless maybe if her papers and crayons were over there, but then you'd have to move the bed over to make room for it. Perhaps another type of lamp would be better? Or you could reposition this lamp on the dresser (as though it doubles as a desk).

When I think of a lamp in a kid's' room, I picture something like these:

:D Ha, ha! I didn't notice this at first, but you have a lamp right next to an outlet, but it's not plugged in. :)

I like the changes you made with the papers, and the girl's hair and face. Her expression really works for being wind-blown and happy, and she wouldn't look scared even if the room was dark.

You might want to make the cuffs of her pants a little smaller.

Or move them up higher on the leg. (Unless they are supposed to be super long on her.)

I like how you changed her stance. It's a lot lighter and more playful, and more like she she's standing on a soft surface.

The headboard needs a little work. It's not quite parallel to the baseboard.

Another thing is you might want to add something in the foreground, or crop the bottom of the image. Otherwise, she has a really spacious bedroom! (It's already pretty big if she's got a full/double bed and it's not against a wall on two sides.)

But I know what you're saying, and you're right--they don't seem to like to run the way horses do, and it's easy to find guides like you posted of horses. Thanks for all your input & advice! (And for putting up with me giving you a hard time!) :)

If you are careful with it, it can be good for kids to see that life is rough sometimes, but you can overcome it. I agree that telling a story with animals can soften difficult subjects, and sadly, there are children who deal with this issue.

To answer the question, I agree with @Boris-Bayo. At the same time, I also think a head-butt wouldn't be too bad, since goats and sheep use head-butting in their play, and a gentle version of the same gesture would be loving. So the picture wouldn't necessarily be violent on it's own (without the context of the story). I would definitely not show the mother ewe kicking her own lamb, though. (Or any of the other sheep harming it, either.) That would be too harsh.

I think it also depends on how much of the story is spent dwelling on the herd rejecting the lamb. The more time spent on that section of the story, the less inclined I'd be to use an image that might be more disturbing.

Poor little lamb! I'm glad the story ends well for him! Good luck figuring this out!

I believe that seeing the obstacles we face as challenges and learning opportunities, rather than troubles and set backs, can help us use them as stepping stones to become stronger and more talented, as well as help us be more positive and happy.

It's strange, but having a good attitude and perspective about problems helps me to recognize and be grateful for the blessings and good things in my life.